Product Review: Affordable Allergy PET Testing …. and GIVEAWAY!

**GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED; Congratulations to the randomly selected winner @irish516**

To say that I am completely obsessed with Bruce Wayne’s health is an understatement. Like a lot of pet parents, I over analyze everything that he does, why he does it and what triggers him to do certain things. If you’ve been following us for a while now on our Instagram account or through our blog, you know that about a year ago, Bruce Wayne had some health issues that we just couldn’t nail down. All of his blood tests came back pretty normal. To make a long story short, we tried some medications, but since they didn’t make a huge difference, I took him off because the side effects outweighed the benefits.

In full disclosure, I was given the Affordable Allergy Test free of charge in return for my honest review! All opinions and thoughts are strictly my own. As always, I do not promote anything that I wouldn’t use again on any of my dogs.

I’m fully convinced that Bruce Wayne has some allergies that are affecting his overall health. Bruce Wayne constantly has runny and sometimes mucus in his eyes. I ruled out that it was limited to seasonal allergies when I took note that his eyes are watery year round. On some days, Bruce Wayne doesn’t eat until noon or even dinner time. These are all reasons I really wanted to test Bruce Wayne for any food sensitivities. Am I feeding him the wrong thing? Am I giving him treats that are actually giving him more discomfort than joy?

At first, I thought it had to be a food based sensitivity, but after talking to the kind folks at the Affordable Allergy Testing booth, I am now wondering if he has environmental allergies as well. In an effort to be fully transparent, I sought this company out at Global Pet Expo last month in Orlando, Florida. They sent an email to all press/media attendees introducing their “Affordable Allergy Test” and were giving the first 100 people to stop by their booth a free allergy test!!! Yes, FREE! 🙂 This is exactly what I had been looking for. The other allergy test I had been eyeing up is by Dr. Jean Dodds, the NutriScan test, however, it is a bit pricey.

And, when I say this couldn’t be easier to do from your home in 3 easy steps, I’m not joking. You easily do this in 10 minutes, 15 if you move at a snail’s pace like me.

STEP 1 – ORDER YOUR “KIT”

I hate to use the word, kit, because that insinuates that you have to order it and wait for it to arrive at your house, which in turn takes longer to get your pet’s results. This is not the case at all. Actually, all you need to do is go to the Affordable Allergy Testing website, purchase your kit and print the submission form emailed to you.

STEP 2 – COLLECT YOUR PET’S HAIR

Now, according to the Affordable Allergy Testing website, you can either cut or brush your dog’s hair to gather required hair for testing. In total, you will need to submit 10 – 15 strands of hair. Since Bruce Wayne’s hair is short right now and I think it’s important to have the entire piece of hair, I choose to brush Bruce Wayne. Any pet parent that brushes their pet’s hair knows that you can easily get 10 – 15 strands in one pass.

Once you’ve collected your pet’s hair, place the strands into a ziploc bag and mail it to the address provided on your form that you printed out. It’s easy as that!

Step 3 – WATCH FOR YOUR RESULTS!

This will be the toughest part. If you are anything like me, you will be chomping at the bit for your results. However, I can attest that the results are returned in a very timely matter to you via email. The average wait time for your results is 7 – 10 business days. And, if you consider the fact that Affordable Allergy Testing is testing your pet’s hair for 300 food and environmental allergies, this is pretty amazing!

BRUCE WAYNE’S RESULTS!

I’m not joking when I say that Bruce Wayne’s results were returned to us in record time! I mailed Bruce Wayne’s hair samples off the lab on a Thursday and I received the results in my email on Wednesday the following week! Literally, not even a week later!

Affordable Allergy Test sends you 3 email attachments: your pet’s environmental test results, your pet’s food intolerance test results and instructions that explain how to read the test results, which are shown below. The results are as easy to follow as a traffic signal: green = proceed but with caution; yellow = slow down; and red = stop feeding immediately! Please note that the test results do not show everything that is tested. For instance, if your dog does not have any carrot intolerances, it will not appear on the test results. It is important for you to compare what is tested versus your results.

Bruce Wayne’s non-food items results!

Bruce Wayne’s food intolerance test results!

I was horrified to see that I was feeding Bruce Wayne some of the foods that he has intolerances too. However, that also helped to clarify as to why Bruce Wayne stopped eating the raw meals that I was making for him: ½ the ingredients he has intolerances too! I cannot stress how important this allergy test is for pet parents! We are constantly told to feed better foods, which I fully believe that we should, however, we should also take the steps to learn which foods, while they may be better in theory, could be causing complications to our pets. After all, as you know, each pet is different. Just because a lot of Chihuahuas eat baby carrots, doesn’t mean Bruce Wayne should eat baby carrots (sadly, this is a food that he should stay clear of).

GIVEAWAY TIME! (*giveaway is now closed*)

Because I know how important this type of information is, I wanted to not only share it with all our friends and followers, but I also wanted to give a free test to another concerned pet parent! Thank you to Affordable Allergy Test for gifting a test to 1 lucky winner.

To enter, simply enter on the rafflecopter below. All entries must be received by May 31, 2018. Winner will be announced on this post on or about June 1, 2018. For extra bonus entries, please tag a friend on the Instagram post announcing this giveaway!

Such a wonderful test! Hard when our fur babies can’t tell us what’s wrong. Winston is constantly chewing the fur off his paws until they’re raw. What he’s all allergic to is so hard to determine with him. This testing would be so helpful!

Oh goodness, that’s quite a comprehensive allergy test for pets! You are such a good dog mom for getting Bruce tested, and now you know exactly what you can (and cannot) feed him! I would love to win this so I can test Truman and find out the same things.

This would be a godsend! I have had trials with Pixel for over a year. We initially tried limited ingredient foods, to grain free. Then elimination diet for months. Then home cooked. The only result is continued itching and weight gain. She has chronic yeast on her skin and requires a lot of baths, which is very time consuming. We are now on a freeze dried and raw food. That has made her itching worse. We have tried almost every novelty protien, including alligator. Every new thing we have tried seems to escalate the problem. Now we wonder if it is just a food intolerance. Our vet has said these allergy tests are not conclusive. However, at this point, I would love to try this option. I have often tried things, he did not suggest and he seemed pleased with the results.

This would be a godsend! I have had trials with Pixel for over a year. We initially tried limited ingredient foods, to grain free. Then elimination diet for months. Then home cooked. The only result is continued itching and weight gain. She has chronic yeast on her skin and requires a lot of baths, which is very time consuming. We are now on a freeze dried and raw food. That has made her itching worse. We have tried almost every novelty protein, including alligator. Every new thing we have tried seems to escalate the problem. Now we wonder if it is just a food intolerance. Our vet has said these allergy tests are not conclusive. However, at this point, I would love to try this option. I have often tried things, he did not suggest and he seemed pleased with the results.

Awww, sounds like Pixel has really had a rough go of things. I’ve heard good and bad about the allergy testing, but we always figure, why not? I’d rather walk on the side of caution then continue to give BW something that is irritating him. Makes sense though as to the raw that I was making him as he suddenly stopped eating it. It’s just about finding balance and making educated decisions. 🙂

We have a 7 month old puppy and he sneezes a lot and has runny eyes sometimes other than that he is very healthy, I would love to know if he has allergies so we can avoid things that will cause him problems.

Thank you for the giveaway! Mr. HandsomePants is always itchy and I have had difficulty nailing down his triggers. I know some foods that make it worse, but I have no clue about the environmentals. I would really love to do this test for him. Thank you for the chance!

I just sent Gretel’s hair off to be tested and can’t wait to get the results. She eats raw too. I buy frozen, prepared raw but that has an even higher risk that I’m giving her something she has an intolerance to.

Thanks for stopping by, Jessica! That’s so exciting that you are having Gretel’s hair tested as well. I’d love to hear the results. It’s amazing what technology can tell us these days. I was so thankful to narrow down Bruce Wayne’s intolerances.

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